Milk from Pennsylvania dairies must be bulk tested for avian influenza, state agriculture officials announced Wednesday. “Taking this proactive step will ensure that we can protect our cattle, poultry and farmworkers,” said state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding in a news release . “We are taking this step after careful consideration, in consultation with dairy and poultry farmers, and after voluntary testing was not adequate to get samples necessary for detection and prevention.
“Pennsylvania’s large number of farms with both dairy cattle and poultry present unique risks that demand extra vigilance.” The precautionary measure — coming at no cost to farmers — is targeted to pinpoint and contain the source of viral infections and prevent the spread of Influenza A, including highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI. While no cases of the virus have been reported in Pennsylvania cattle, other states have seen a marked uptick in cases.
Procedures are detailed in a quarantine order , also issued Wednesday. 'More than 200 new cases' Bird flu is caused by an influenza type A virus, is highly contagious and often fatal in birds. While some wild bird species can carry the virus without becoming sick, HPAI has been affecting both wild waterfowl as well as domestic poultry species since 2022.
The virus jumped from birds to mammals in the Lehigh Valley last year, when a red fox became the first mammal in the region infected . In early May of this year, a bald eagle.
:upscale()/2024/11/21/934/n/1922729/tmp_77sMIG_cd43fc068bb98f2c_GettyImages-2163917928.jpg)
